The Bristol Blog features news and information about Bristol, Connecticut.

August 14, 2013

Waiving fees may be 'recipe for disaster,' Jeffries warns

Democratic City Council hopeful Stephen Jeffries is concerned that waiving the building permit fees for the Bristol Boys and Girls Club may lead to fewer inspections and less safety.

The City Council Tuesday unanimously agreed to waive about $62,000 in potential fees to give the nonprofit a boost in its $10 million building project on West Street that's slated to get underway in mid-September.

Jeffries, who is seeking election in the 1st District,said,"RevenuerReduction will directly correlate with safety inspection prioritization and could actually mean cuts to the number of inspections."

He asked, "Will the damaging revenue concessions result in a reduction of service equality? This could very well be a recipe for disaster!"

Update at 8:40 a.m.:

City Building Official Guy Morin, after reading what Jeffries had to say, responded:

"That is one of the most bizarre comments I have ever heard. The required inspections for any project are dictated by the state building code and state statutes, the amount of inspections have nothing to do with the permit fees."

Update at 8:50 a.m.:Mayor Art Ward asked, "Why wasn't this concern raised when the issue was discussed at the City Council meeting? The issue was waiving of the permit fees, not the inspection process."

What should Steve do if the Press closes?

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